5. Silver threads

6. Powder puff

Hair powders soak up excess oil (great for a non-shampoo day) and add a bit of body. â€œI love [Bumble and Bumble] because it also adds a hint of shine,â€ says celebrity stylist Jet Rhys. â€œItâ€™s not dull and powdery-looking.â€ Her tip: To avoid getting any splotches on hair, skin, or clothes, spray the shampoo on a brush then brush the scalp, and spray before youâ€™re dressed.Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder (in A Tint of Brown, A Bit Blondish, or Black), $36; sephora.com

7. Makeup makeover

Use a brow pencil in a color similar to your locks for an on-the-go cover-up. Do the same with eye shadow; though Rhys suggests picking one with a sponge tip brush, for easiest application.

8. Better red

If youâ€™ve got striking scarlet locks, and canâ€™t, in a pinch, find matching temporary color, Doug Macintosh, Colorist at Louise Oâ€™Connor Salon in New York City, says he has clients who brush on blush.

9. Foam party

From a product line developed by a doctor to address her hair issues, this daily application of foam aims to stimulate pigment-producing cells in hair.MD Hair Color Restoration, $49.99 for a 60-day supply; md-factor.com

11. Sharpie image

Permanent marker to touch up roots is a â€œthing.â€ Before you try it, know that this can go madly astray, and probably only works if your hair is jet black, dark brown, or, um, neon yellow. Macintosh is not a fan. â€œI had someone come in who had used black magic marker on gray hair. It ended up this steely gray, and we could not get it out. We also had a hard time coloring over it.â€

12. Lash bash

Weâ€™ve heard of people using mascara (the kind for your lashes) as a root touch-up. It sounds like a great idea, since you can find tubes in a variety of colorsâ€”from blonde to light brown to jet-black. Well, weâ€™ve tried itâ€”and not naming any brand namesâ€”the end result was a matted, clumpy hairline.

13. Make a mark

This temporary color will help hide pesky strands for 30-plus applications. Go for the marker when youâ€™re running out the door and need quick big-picture coverage. The wand is for more precise application.TouchBack Marker (in five shades, from Soft Black to Natural Blonde), $30, ulta.com, and TouchBack Wand (in light, medium, and dark brown), $10; Walgreens stores

15. Pump...you up

Canâ€™t commit? Root coverage that washes out in one shampooâ€”in 22 colors from your basic auburns, browns, and blondes to three shades of glitter. Or, just for brunettes, four thickening hues can fluff up your style.Salon Grafix High Beams Temporary Spray-On Color (Intense, in 22 colors, $7, amazon.com or Color Thickener in 4 colors, $7, amazon.com)

16. Filled out

Do double-duty by making hair look thicker while covering gray. Tiny keratin fibers bond with hair; they resist rain, wind, and sweat, but will shampoo out.Toppik Hair-Building Fibers in nine shades, $24.95; ulta.com

17. Getting buffed up

A hairspray-like delivery system for thinning hair doubles as cover-up.Fullmore Colored Hair Thickener in five shades, $15; amazon.com

18. Puff daddy

For brunettes only: A choice of two brown shades delivered via a targeted nozzle zooms in color where you need it.Marc Anthony True Professional Bye.Bye Gray Root Touch Up Spray (in Light to Medium Brown and Medium to Dark Brown/Black) $10; drugstore.com

19. Happy hideaway

20. Protect yourself

One key to using dye to cover gray is helping it last for as long as possible. So, after youâ€™ve dyed your â€˜do, use a shampoo designed to keep color from fading. This one is sulfate-free and uses baobab, an African miracle ingredient thatâ€™s packed with antioxidants.ColorProofÂ Baobab Heal & Repair Shampoo, $50; colorproof.com for info

23. Do your part

We love this old-school go-to for gray distraction: parting your hair in a new way. â€œIf you make a zigzag part, you wonâ€™t see the gray as much,â€ Macintosh says.

24. Dry idea

Another fool-the-eye try: Add lift to the hair at your crown and/or bangs with a volumizing product and a blow dryer. â€œGet dry shampoo, put it in your part, and rough it up a bit,â€ says Macintosh. â€œHair will stick up a bit, and you wonâ€™t notice the gray as much.â€ Rhys suggests a little light teasing, or a few hot rollers at the crown for a similar effect.

25. Extend yourself

â€œHair extensions and add-on pieces are a great option for those trying to camouflage their grays, while at the same time adding volume and style,â€ says celebrity stylist Tabatha Coffey, star of Bravoâ€™s Tabatha Takes Over and creator of Secret Cover, a clip-in extension piece that pops onto the crown of your head, where grays are often most obvious.Secret Cover (in 13 colors), $39.99; getsecretcover.com

32. Go faux

Or be (a bit) more reality-based, opting for a wig in a color found in nature (on peopleâ€™s heads, that is) like on this cute, layered lob.Vivica A. Fox Collection Meliah Wig in 14 colors, $38.90; vivicafoxhair.com

34. Time saver

If youâ€™ve got lots and lots of gray, a DIY dye can give monochromatic, flat color. Weâ€™re big fans of this permanent version with highlights and tone variations built in. Aimed at women 55+, it also contains nurturing, volumizing ingredients to counter age-related dryness and thinning. The best feature, though, may be the brushlet meant just for temples and sideburns.Lâ€™Oreal Paris Excellence Age Perfect (in 8 shades), $8; amazon.com

36. The two-step

Color roots and the length of hair in separate steps, just like a pro colorist would with Vidal Sassoon Salonist, $12; amazon.com

37. Get personal

Fill out a brief questionnaire, send in a recent photo, and ask yourself, "Who needs a salon?" This custom-blended color is mixed to match just for you, and shipped directly to your home. â€œGray hair can be a little harder to process. This color has extra pigment for better cover,â€ says Estelle Baumhauer, eSalon Color Director. â€œIf your gray is especially resistant, you can leave the dye on five to 10 minutes longer.â€ Got questions? You can email or phone your designated colorist.eSalon hair color set (includes color, developer, shampoo, conditioner, stain guard, and stain remover), $19.95; esalon.com

38. Foiled again

Many women turn to a pro when silver strands multiply. If you go this route, youâ€™ll probably want to include return salon visits to cover grow-out in your beauty budget. â€œFour to six weeks is the average time my clients go,â€ says Macintosh. To push the time between appointments to six or eight weeks, he sometimes tries this technique: â€œI weave out some of the gray around the face, and put in foils with color and conditioner between those pieces. Then you donâ€™t have an obvious root line around the face as hair grows,â€ he says.

40. Silver streak

Weâ€™ve often heard the tip that going lighter and piling on the highlights will help downplay gray grow-in. We asked an expert: â€œIf youâ€™re naturally blonde and want to stay blonde, then highlights can help,â€ says Macintosh. â€œBut if youâ€™re a brunette and white starts growing in, highlights are not going to help hide it.â€

41. Go low

Not a fan of highlights? â€œYou can have lowlights put in hairâ€”tones close to your natural color. You paint them in like highlights, and that will camouflage the gray so you wonâ€™t have the huge root line,â€ Macintosh says.

42. Brush up

Balayage, or painting in color freehand, is another technique used to minimize obvious roots. â€œHave your colorist cover the gray at the root area,â€ says Rhys. Then, have him or her use balayage on selected strands of hair with a darker color. â€œThis makes it look more natural, like you were born with it.â€

43. Just the highlights

They donâ€™t always have to be blonde. â€œHighlighting comes in all colors,â€ says Rhys. â€œIf you have red hair, your colorist can add lighter strands of a red to add lightness which will soften and blend the gray. If you have brown hair, ask your colorist for soft caramel lights to do the same. Honey blond? Add some pale baby blonde to the hair.â€

44. Precious metal

No one will see a few stray grays when your hair is an eye-catching platinum hue. Caveat: Going this route is high-maintenance and can be damaging to hair, so weigh the pros and cons.

45. Focus fix

If you have large streaks or a skunk stripe you want to lose, you could have your colorist cover just those sections, and leave the rest of your hair alone. The downside: Itâ€™s almost impossible to be so precise with hair dye, says Macintosh. And it could take longer (which is gonna cost you).

46. Strong like bull

Total gray coverage is guaranteed with new Redken Chromatics Ultra Rich color. The new oil-powered permanent dye packs protein particles into your follicles. The result: luminous color with a healthy shine and less breakage.Redken Chromatics Ultra Rich color; redken.com for salons

47. What the pluck?

If picking up tweezers seems like the easiest way to deal with the occasional stray gray, think again. â€œYou have to realize that, over time, youâ€™re going to get more and more,â€ says Michelle Blaisure, a trichologist and Bosley Professional Strength Expert. â€œIf you continue to pull them out, you can damage the hair follicle. That can lead to the hair having less of an ability to grow in a healthy way; it will come in looking thinner and weaker.â€